The Bruton Sisters and Dorr Bothwell

 

Dorr Bothwell in her studio, 1967
Photograph by Bill Foote
Dorr Bothwell papers, 1900-2006
Archives of American Art

Bay Area artist Dorr Bothwell (1902-2000) created powerful, inventive, and ground-breaking work during her long and prolific career. She worked in many mediums, including painting, serigraphy (fine art silk screen printing), drawing, and collage. As a young woman in her mid-twenties, she lived for two years in American Samoa, where she studied the native culture. She was fully embraced as a Samoan when she consented to be tattooed on both legs from her knees to her hips. What a brave and adventurous woman!

In 1930, Bothwell and the Bruton sisters attended a party at Ralph Stackpole's studio in San Francisco. This is the night when the sisters met Henri Matisse, and Bothwell performed a Samoan dance for him. You can read more about that magical evening here: The Brutons Meet Matisse. It's clear from Esther's account that the Brutons greatly admired Bothwell.

Bothwell's beautiful work Dreamer (1929) was included in the exhibition The Bruton Sisters: Modernism in the Making. This work was included not only because Bothwell was a friend and contemporary of the Brutons, but also because it shares many of the modernist elements found in the Brutons' work.

Dorr Bothwell, Dreamer, 1929, Oil on canvas board, 23 x 20 in.
The Buck Collection at UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art
© Courtesy of The Dorr Bothwell Trust and The Mendocino Art Center

Bothwell spent the 1930s in Southern California where she became part of a surrealist art movement. Her subsequent work shows the influence of this period.

Dorr Bothwell, Memory Machine, 1947
From the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Although I knew that Bothwell and the Brutons were at the same party in 1930, I didn't have any additional insight into their relationship over the years. That's why I was delighted to learn that their friendship remained close over the following decades.

I was recently contacted by a researcher who is studying the life and career of the American textile designer Dorothy Liebes (1897-1972). She alerted me to a letter she discovered in the Dorothy Liebes Papers at the Archives of American Art. Liebes and Helen Bruton were both very involved in the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. In fact, they both worked in the same building (The Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts) where Liebes was in charge of the Decorative Arts Display and Helen Bruton headed up the Art in Action program.

The letter, dated April 27, 1971, is from Dorr Bothwell to Dorothy Liebes and includes a paragraph I found most interesting:

This short paragraph is exciting on several levels. First of all, it confirms that Bothwell and the Brutons remained friends for more than forty years, well into the 1970s. Bothwell felt close enough to Helen that she was comfortable staying in her studio in Monterey. (Imogen Cunningham often stayed in Helen's studio when she was in Monterey). It's also interesting to learn that Bothwell taught at Monterey Peninsula College with Cunningham and Ansel Adams; she is one of many fascinating people connected to MPC during this period. 

Finally, the letter mentions the mosaic Helen was working on for the SPCA Monterey County. Helen loved animals and was a long-time supporter of animal welfare organizations. After the SPCA opened its location on Route 68 in 1967, Helen created an animal-themed mosaic for their new facility. This mosaic is still on display today!

Helen Bruton, mosaic at the SPCA Monterey County, c. 1971

I never had an exact date for this mosaic, but the fact that Helen was still working on it in 1971 is helpful in dating the work. 

This short paragraph mentioning the Brutons fills in some useful gaps and sheds light on the important connections between these accomplished women artists. It also confirms that there is still much out there to be discovered about the fascinating Bruton sisters and their wide artistic circle.